The Skilt story

Hi, my name is Richard.  I am the designer, sample maker, model, webmaster, and sales manager here at Skilt.  Together with the production team in our Bethnal Green workshop I aim to bring you excellent quality kilts that are eye catching and practical to wear.

How it started

I bought my first kilt in about 2002 – a cheap black one that I just wore to go clubbing.  It wasn’t until 2007 while I was on holiday in the States when I saw my first contemporary kilt with press studs and pockets – a Utillikilt.  Upon returning to London I went online and ordered me one.  I loved it.  I wore it around town and loved the reactions.  I was hooked.

One day I was looking down at trousers of my pinstripe suit and I got the idea to create a pinstripe button-up kilt.  I bought some fabric, my friend showed me how to thread her sewing machine and, many hours later, I had made my first kilt.  It was a little short and a bit rough around the edges but I was happy with it.  In fact people’s reaction was so positive that I decided to take things further.

The design challenge

I loved my Utillikilt but a couple of things bugged me about it: the pockets were not detachable, and the waist wasn’t adjustable.  An engineer by training, I set about coming up with an elegant design that would address these issues.  Over the next few months I made myself kilt after kilt.  Each one trying out a different idea.

The first thing to get right was the pockets.  After many iterations I found that a simple strip of velcro coupled with belt loops for strength did the job.  Styling wise I took inspiration from British Army combat clothing.  My first production design was the Combat Kilt.  I lined up manufacturing in Vietnam … but didn’t yet have the trademark on ‘Commando Kilts’.  Should I wait?  Or could I come up with another name as a stop gap?

 

Skilt?

Tom Vincent, an old friend of mine, came up with the name Skilt in a brainstorming session.  I didn’t like it at first but it kind of grew on me.  I liked its simplicity, that it was less overtly army macho, and the possibility it could kind of be the ‘hoover’ or ‘xerox’ of the modern kilt.

The logo design moved quite quickly from a swooshy S to a squished S to represent the folds of the pleats.

The patterns were made, the label was designed, and a couple of months later my first batch of ‘Combat Skilts’ arrived from Vietnam.

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